Awake
by The Countess of Monte Cristo
Summary: After Leorio's failed gamble during the third phase of the Hunter Exam, Gon and the gang must wait out fifty hours together in a room deep within Trick Tower, but the nights hold dark musing for the rag-tag team.
1. Night 1

_A/N So this summer I have become a huge fan of Togashi's other manga: Hunter x Hunter. This is my first piece for this fandom, and if you like it, hit me up with a review, and I'll write the next chapter for which I have a tentative plan. As always, views and reviews are much appreciated. I hope you enjoy!_

"Can't sleep?"

The blond craned his head to get a better look at the younger boy who reclined on his makeshift bed, still very much awake despite the supposed late hour. It was hard to tell in a room with no windows if it was really late or not.

Killua shook his head. "No, it isn't that. I can keep myself awake for three or four days straight, no problem."

Kurapika blinked at this information. It turned out this young boy was just full of frightful surprises. _Well_, Kurapika thought wryly, _being able to go many days without sleep will certainly be useful in this situation_. For the five of them were currently trapped in a small room deep within Trick Tower for fifty hours as a penalty for Leorio's gambling shortcomings.

"The training you went through must have been both intense and extraneous to imbue you with such strength." He was thinking not only of his ability to stave off sleep deprivation but of his surgical precision in the removing of his opponent's heart not ten hours ago.

Killua merely laughed that statement off. The casual way he regarded his skill and the tortures he must have suffered to hone it was unnerving to the blond Kurata. "I bet you could use skills like these for your revenge plot."

Kurapika licked his dry lips nervously at this. "What do you know of the Spiders?"

Kurapika could just barely make out the form of Killua shrugging in the darkness. "Honestly, not much. You probably already know everything I could tell you. Though…my father received a contract to kill one of their numbers once…I remember all he did was complain about it. Apparently, it was one of the most difficult hit's he'd ever received…and my dad is the best assassin out there. Even other assassins hire him for jobs they're not sure than can complete. Don't take this personally, but I've seen you fight, and you're strong and all, but…"

"…But not strong enough." Kurapika finished for him. He knew as much. He'd hoped to become a blacklist hunter and catch some petty criminals at first then work his way up to the A class bounties. Though, even if he did that, if he were being honest with himself, he did not intend to live through this struggle. The old adage says that he who seeks revenge should dig two graves. In his case, he would be digging fourteen…one for each of the thirteen Spiders, and one for himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he barely saw his form as Killua sat up and leveled a searching gaze upon him as if he were sizing him up, assessing his abilities. The stare was oddly invasive, and Kurapika felt the juvenile impulse to blush.

"Do you think you are up to it?" Killua whispered after a thorough evaluation of Kurapika's reclining form.

"Up to it?" the Kurata asked, though he knew exactly what the youth had meant.

"You said yourself you've never killed before. What you're talking about doing is mass murder. Thirteen murders to be exact. That's a pretty ambitious goal for someone whose hands are clean of blood…"

Kurapika looked away from the young Zoldyck. It was an ethical conflict that he had been struggling with for years now. It was not a question of wavering conviction but of a nagging conscious. He was no less devoted to his vengeance, yet the thirst for revenge alone could not drown his moral fiber.

"It isn't about whether or not I can do this…I must. For the sake of my clan, I must…"

Killua regarded him in the darkness with strangely reflective eyes. They were cat-like eyes, sharp and unnerving.

"You don't have a choice?" There was a note of some indistinguishable emotion in his voice that Kurapika could not identify.

Kurapika pondered his companion's words. _Do I have a choice?_ With a pang, he remembered is father's words, so long ago. _Everyone always has a choice, Kurapika. It's those choices that define who we are…_Was this his choice? No, this was necessity. His people cried out for vengeance. Their souls could not rest in peace until their eyes were collected, their whole bodies laid to rest, and their deaths avenged. As the last surviving member of the Kurata clan it was his duty…his sole purpose of existence to give their soul's peace.

"No. So long as I can hear my clansmen crying out in my head for justice, I must seek retribution for their needless massacre."

"I don't think it's justice you're after…"

Kurapika blinked rapidly at the silver haired boy. It wasn't as if the thought had never occurred to him, but to have it sprung on him like that…There was a fine line between justice and vengeance. Surely it was better these murderous thieves rot in a cell than hurt anyone ever again. A noble cause like that was justice, was it not?

"They are thieves…criminals…murderers; they do not deserve to walk free."

"Who are you to act as judge, jury, and…executioner?"

Again, the young Kurata found himself speechless in the face of such insightful inquiries. But he did have that right! They had taken everything away from him his people, his family, his friends, his _best _friend…

"No one else is brave enough to stop them; it falls to me. No one will ever again suffer as I have by their hands …"

Killua snorted skeptically at this pronouncement. "Well, you're right about one thing: you will suffer…"

Kurapika narrowed his eyes at the smug assassin. "You do not know what you are talking about, Killua."

No one understood his plight. He was driven to do this, must do this, not for himself, but for his people.

As if the young Zoldyck had read his mind, he replied, "Looks like we both are trapped by our family…"

Kurapika looked away from the white haired boy and frowned. Was what he said true? Was this not what he desired? Was he simply doing this for his brethren? Would it be better for him to give this quest up? Live the life his clansmen could not?

Before he could continue his inner monologue of self examination, Killua continued. "You know this quest for revenge deal…may end up killing you."

_I do not fear death. I fear only that over time my rage will fade away…_

His own words echoed in his head like a macabre mantra. If this ordeal claimed the life of the last Kurata tribesman then so be it. It would be a fitting end.

"My death is the least of my concerns…"

"The Phantom Troupe murdered all of your people but you. Are you trying to help them finish the job?"

Kurapika gave the blunt boy his best glare. "And that is none of your concern."

"Well, I thought you'd say that." His reply had a hint of snideness in it, but then he looked the Kurata boy straight in the eyes, unafraid, as he said the rest. "I don't know if this ever occurred to you, but…if you kill them all you'll be no better than they are. I don't think you are a murderer. That's something you're born into and you just…weren't."

Leorio's words to him suddenly resounded in his head in this time. _I thought that was exactly the type of hunter you despise the most…? You're ready to sell your soul and lose your dignity?_

His reply had been: _What is my dignity…in comparison with the pain of my companions?_

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that the Phantom Troupe is caged"

"Or dead."

Kurapika nodded solemnly, steel in his eyes. He would do what needed to be done. Whatever that may be…


	2. Night 2

_A/N Sorry this took so long. I'm working on a huge multi-chapter fic in this fandom, and it has taken up most of my free rime lately. I plan on modifying this scene for a flashback in the new fic, but I thought I'd go ahead and post this as the last chapter for this fic. Enjoy!_

* * *

The flickering illumination from the television lit the sharp planes of Leorio's face as a huge yawn raked his frame. He was huddled under a blanket staring unseeingly at the bright screen casting shadows about the darkened room. The quiet sounds of peaceful breathing filled the night, at odds with the man's melancholy mood. With an impatient sigh, he switched the television off and wandered to the couch he had made his own, white blanket dragging behind him like a sad train in the pale night.

* * *

Leorio's less than light footsteps roused his sleeping companion. The bond boy could not remember having fallen asleep, but judging by the open book on his lap, he must off dozed off while reading his tenth novel of the day. Blinking tired green-grey eyes, Kurapika watched as Leorio settled himself down for the night. The young man's features showed great annoyance, and Kurapika could easily imagine whose bitter words were currently ringing in his head.

* * *

_You lost, squandering the remainder of our hours! Take some responsibility, huh?_

Tonpa's jibe echoed over and over inside his head as if he somehow hit the repeat button on his mind's internal memory. He may despise the jerk, but he had a fair point. He was no better than Tonpa himself. He _had_ lost; lost more than just the match. As Tompa had said, his loss had only cost the group a second or two at most, while his own had lost them fifty hours…and in all likelihood, any chance of passing the Hunter Exam.

He closed his eyes in shame. He had let everyone down. He would not have the money to become a doctor; he had let Pietro down. Without a Hunter's license, Gon will be unable to track down his dad; he had let Gon down. Unable to become a Black List hunter, Kurapika wouldn't be able to avenge his brethren and destroy the Phantom Troupe; he had let Kurapika down…

"Leorio…"

_Speak of the devil._

Kurapika's whispering alto somehow pierced the thick haze that had enveloped his mind. Funny, he could have sworn the blond fell asleep about three hours ago, nose buried deep in a book. Opening his eyes, he found a pair of slightly irritated grey orbs watching him with a tight frown.

_At least those eyes aren't red. Sheesh, Kurapika needs his beauty sleep, I guess, but what'd I do?_

As if the blond had somehow learned to read minds from one of those books that he couldn't be extricated from, he answered, "You woke me up with your elephant impression, so I might as well say something to you."

Leorio grit his teeth as those words. The blond punk had an uncanny way to turn everything he said into insults…insults that were almost always aimed at _him_. He shuddered to think of what the something he had to say to him might be. Probably something mean…

"While I won't say that this predicament in which we currently find ourselves isn't your fault…"

_Here we go. Just what I need, a tongue lashing from blondie…_ Leorio braced himself for the psychological abuse that was about to spill forth from Kurapika's nagging mouth. It was no less than he deserved, after all…

"You shouldn't beat yourself up over this."

Leorio started at this unexpected admonition. That was the last thing he'd expected to hear.

Kurapika gave Leorio one of his rare smiles upon spying the stricken look on his face. "Listen, yes, the fifty hour loss is crippling, but for us to truly become hunters we must be able to adapt. If we can't make it out of this tower in under ten hours then we do not deserve that right. All hope is far from lost."

The brunette blinked at the conviction behind the blond's words. Kurapika was not known for his forgiving nature, in fact his whole reason for living seem to revolve around a grudge that he could not seem to let go. For him to be so kind…

"Look, thanks for the pep talk and all, but I don't need your pity."

It must have been dumb irritation or blind guilt that caused him to speak that way. He should have known better than to taunt Kurapika, especially after seeing what he just did to Majitani.

Kurapika's eyes grew wide as Leorio's thoughtless words reached his ears. Leorio cringed at the sight, waiting for the dam of his rage to cascade over his helpless form. With all the pent up fury any human being could posses, Kurapika stood over him, fuming. His anger seemed to grant him height as his relatively petite 5' 6'' frame towered over Leorio in his rage. Eyes ablaze (figuratively ablaze, lucky for Leorio they weren't actually red), Kurapika stalked toward his prone form with a menacing aura.

"Well, you're going to need a hunter's license to get into medical school so you can fix what I'm about to do to your face!"


End file.
